I firmly believe all  children should grow up with some kind of pet.  It teaches compassion for other living things, as well as responsibility for caring for an animal.

In my recent September/October issue issue of Eating Well Magazine had an article that caught my eye – “Would getting a dog benefit my kids?”  it read. [page 44, for those of you who get the magazine already].

According to Deborah E Linder, DVM, MS, DACVN of Tufts Institute for Human-Animal bonds, the short answer is: yes!

She makes three points :

1. A pet is good for mental health:

“Just  petting a dog for 5 minutes changes the biology of the brain and reduces stress hormones like cortisol”, she writes. Studies in children with severe behavioral problems like autism become calmed  and improve the neurological pathways of the brain, she adds.  It’s a well documented fact that petting a dog, or even just watching fish, will lower stress levels, cortisol and blood pressure, and reduce the heart rate.

2. Physical health:

“Research consistently shows that dogs motivate kids to be more active. In one study, children with a family dog got more than 2 hours of extra exercise a week compared to those without.”  She continues that children who are exposed to pets early in life may suffer less from asthma and allergies.  Imagine, a chore like walking or playing with the dog!  I’ll take that any day.

My own personal observation is that pets are good for the retired/elderly segment of the population as well  Pets provide a reason to get up in the morning and they require care, keeping seniors more active.

3. Lastly Dr. Linder mentions Education:

“Tufts University has done studies where struggling elementary children read to a dog, a human, or out loud to themselves.  Kids who read to Fido had improved engagement and attitudes toward reading compared to the other groups. Shy?  The non-judgemental canines appear to alleviate the anxiety that can come from reading”.

To me, that makes perfect sense.  Who among us pet lovers hasn’t confided a secret to our dog or cat, or buried our face in their fur, or hugged our horses neck when tears threaten?  Pets can be best friends, our confidants, our non-judgemental best friends.

I did a presentation years ago about the human -animal bond to a group of veterinary staff.  Basically I researched all kinds of studies about this bond.  The most striking example I remember was about a groupd of emotionally distressed peopel in a mental hospital.  One of the patients had been there for 9 months, and had never once spoken a word.  When dogs were brought in as therapy dogs, he, for the first time in all those months, spoke to the dog.  Now if that doesn’t bring tears to your eyes and a catch in your throat….

Lastly, I think  pets teach about life , and death.  Unfortunately they just do not walk this earth as long as we do.  It’s a hard lesson, but children also learn that there are compassionate ways of dealing with illness and old age, and that it’s okay to mourn when we lose a loved one.

And after all, isn’t that who are pets are?

I personally can’t imagine a life with pets in it.  Can you?